Yeah, he's an idiot. Democrat voters will never vote for him because "team D" and republicans will either try to primary him with some crazy person or just not vote for him later. And while I don't know how the independent Vermont voter thinks, I might guess that taking away rights for no real effect on a non-existent crime wave would not be very popular. ???

Several hundred gun owners using the slogan "Remember in November" relayed a message to those responsible for a gun restriction bill sent to Republican Gov. Phil Scott's desk. Some 2nd Amendment supporters brought along guns, including assault-style rifles, to weekend rallies against gun restrictions that were held in South Burlington, Barre and Bennington. "I know people are afraid of guns," organizer Christopher Covey said on Saturday. "It's not the gun you have to fear, it's the gun in the wrong hand." There were several assault-style rifles in South Burlington.

Marine veteran Nicholas Halverson said he brought his AR-15 to dispel the "stigma" about the gun, which he called "no different than any other rifle." Police reported no problems. The bill, which Scott is expected to sign, would raise the legal age for gun purchases from 18 to 21, and extend mandatory background checks to private gun sales. It also would ban the sale of high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, devices that increase the firing rates of rifles. Two other bills Scott said he'd sign would make it easier to take guns from people in dangerous situations or suspected of domestic violence.

Covey, who had a holstered .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, said the main goal of the event was written across the back of a shirt he was wearing. The shirt was bright orange with black letters reading "REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER." The bills were passed by the House and Senate after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and a foiled plot to shoot up Fair Haven Union High School in Vermont. Scott, a gun owner, is expected to sign the gun restrictions into law. "I have a gun safe full of guns. I've been a hunter my entire life so it's not as though I don't understand that perspective," the governor said.

"Fear is the biggest factor. Right now, people are afraid of what they can and can't own-- the high-capacity magazines," Parro said. "Up until the government is saying we don't want you to have [high-capacity magazines], we didn't sell that many of them and now we can't keep them in stock."

The looming threat of a ban is bringing people through the doors, people like Peter Goodell. He's stocking up on some high-capacity magazines before it's too late.

"I'm purchasing those magazines so that I can make my guns functional for probably the rest of my life," Goodell said.

Scott is expected the sign the bills tomorrow at an outdoor ceremony. I haven't seen any polls on these bills, is there widespread bi-partisan support for them?. If Republicans dumped Scott, Democrats aren't going to jump in and save him, they'll support their own Democratic candidate for governor. Is there a strong Republican challenger to Scott?

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

MONTPELIER - Gov. Phil Scott spoke over protesters' jeers and angry shouts as he signed a package of gun-related bills in a public ceremony at the Statehouse.

Two of the new laws empower authorities to remove guns from people at "extreme risk" of violence or people who have been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The final bill expands gun background checks, limits magazine capacity, bans bump stocks and requires people under 21 years old to take a hunter safety course before they can buy a gun.

“I’ve been working on this issue for several years and wanted to come and thank Gov. Scott for his courage and his soul-searching,” said Niemiec, who joined Gun Sense Vermont in 2013, after the massacre of elementary school students in Newtown, Connecticut.

Despite its crunchy reputation, Vermont has long been considered a laggard on gun control. Often proudly and obstinately so: Bernie Sanders, the state’s self-described socialist senator, helped protect the gun industry from legal liability for the human misery that its products cause, in a 2005 vote, and even opposed the Brady Bill expanding background checks for gun buyers in the 1990s.

So it was a watershed moment when Vermont’s Legislature passed, and the state’s Republican governor signed, an extensive package of measures that are the state’s first real effort at gun control. With Governor Phil Scott’s signature, Vermont leapfrogs ahead of many states that have resisted sensible gun control measures.

The legislation, which Scott approved on Wednesday, raises the minimum age to buy a gun in Vermont to 21. It expands background checks, and allows police to take weapons away from anyone deemed to pose a significant threat to themselves or others. It bans bump stocks, the weapon modification used by the shooter in last year’s Las Vegas massacre. The law also limits magazine sizes to 10 rounds.

I had a discussion with some Right leaning friends the other day who were calling me out about being a Social Democrat, which they equate to being a Communist. Which automatically includes banning all guns and purveying a Soviet Russia style purge of undesirables. My point to them is that we can have both/all. We can have Socialism to some degree without murdering anyone and we can redistribute wealth and stuff without anyone giving up their rights and guns. We *can* have it - we have the resources to feed, house, cloth, educate, medicate, *everyone* without murdering or restricting.

But not if .01% insist on having 10KX what a "normal" person has.

Being a Socialist/Social Democrat doe not equal being a Soviet stye Communist. We can have guns and prosperity and Capitalism and all that good stuff. But not if we allow .01% to screw the other 99.9% out of their existence. We need to work on having a fucking dialog instead of all the Hate and reliance on what was done 100 years ago.

If Bernie and his Minions want to further the Revolution (I'm one of them) we need to relay this fact that being "armed" is good for people. Why are we, Right, Left, and otherwise, vilifying tools? This is counter productive to the ultimate message that shit has to change and it does not automatically mean "banning" or restricting anything. Including weapons or whatever.

VodoundaVinci wrote:If Bernie and his Minions want to further the Revolution (I'm one of them) we need to relay this fact that being "armed" is good for people. Why are we, Right, Left, and otherwise, vilifying tools? This is counter productive to the ultimate message that shit has to change and it does not automatically mean "banning" or restricting anything. Including weapons or whatever.

VooDoo

As of the last election season Bernie had very publicly thrown in with those who are not fans of anyone other than government being armed. If you are indeed one of Bernie's "minions" you might want to let _him_ know how you feel about this.

I doubt it. Based on reactions at on a regional forum, the fudds neither knew nor cared.

I find that shocking. I don't think I knew a single family (other than straight trailer trash too poor to afford it) that didn't own any firearms. Some more than others certainly, but so many people hunt that everyone had a long gun of some kind.

Kennedy wrote that the state has "no choice" but to dismiss the charges following the April 11 ruling, which said that there was not enough evidence to show that Sawyer attempted to commit a crime under Vermont's legal definition of an "attempt," only that he had prepared to commit a crime.

Governor Scott:

He also urged the Legislature to quickly pass a domestic terrorism statute, like many other states, so that someone with clear intent to commit a crime like a school shooting could be kept off the streets, even if their plans did not rise to the legal standard of "attempt" under Vermont law.

Attorney Robert Kaplan:

"We found out before November the farce that was the reason to bring gun control to our state," he said.

Kennedy wrote that the state has "no choice" but to dismiss the charges following the April 11 ruling, which said that there was not enough evidence to show that Sawyer attempted to commit a crime under Vermont's legal definition of an "attempt," only that he had prepared to commit a crime.

Governor Scott:

He also urged the Legislature to quickly pass a domestic terrorism statute, like many other states, so that someone with clear intent to commit a crime like a school shooting could be kept off the streets, even if their plans did not rise to the legal standard of "attempt" under Vermont law.

Attorney Robert Kaplan:

"We found out before November the farce that was the reason to bring gun control to our state," he said.

It's a normal Republican knee jerk reaction but both parties got swept up into this one - the fear factor. Pull back the curtain and you'll probably find Everytown and Bloomberg money feeding this one.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Pull back the curtain and you'll probably find Everytown and Bloomberg money feeding this one.

I think this has been established. Aside from the Bloomberg money going into GunsenseVT, the state fills up with people retiring from New York and Massachusetts and wanting to get into politics. Bloomberg pushed a ballot initiative in Maine. Eventually he will succeed. We cannot avoid external interference in New Hampshire either.

“In compliance with that law, the Vermont State Police will allow members of the public to voluntarily surrender their bump-fire stocks anonymously at any of the 10 VSP barracks in the state,” Capt. Timothy Clouatre said in a release. “People may turn in the devices during regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.”

While Americans could possess as many as 520,000 bump stocks, according to estimates from federal regulators, few are being turned in to authorities in states where they have been banned. Seven months after Denver outlawed the devices, none had been handed over to police in Colorado’s largest city. Similar results are reported in New Jersey while in Massachusetts, the first state to ban them since the Las Vegas shooting, numbers of relinquished bump stocks are in the single digits.

Those looking to take advantage of Vermont’s “no-questions-asked” surrender program are instructed to bring the stocks in after they have been detached from a firearm. Cloutare said that staff “will take no information about the identity of the person surrendering the bump-fire stock,” which will be held in a secure area pending destruction.

Vermont authorities in September said they were are not offering to pay for the now-banned devices but did warn those caught with them after Oct. 1 that they could risk up to one year in prison and $1,000 in fines. Now that the new law outlawing the devices has gone into effect, it turns out that VSP’s haul of relinquished bump fire stocks could fit on a table top.

State Police spokesman Adam Silverman said that as of Tuesday just two of the devices had been turned in statewide. Both stocks, as reported by My Champlain Valley.com, will be taken to state police headquarters in Waterbury to be destroyed. Officials have previously clarified that only the stocks were to be accepted during the grace period, detached from any firearm.

Gun rights groups warn that those turning in such items moving forward could open themselves up to jail time and fines. It is not just Vermont that has seen poor compliance with statewide bans on the devices. With as many as 520,000 bump stocks in circulation nationwide and few jurisdictions willing to pay for them, only a trickle are finding their way to authorities.